Author: Elise Meerpoel

The delegation comprising Guernsey’s President of Policy & Resources, Gavin St Pier, Jersey’s Assistant Chief Minister, Connétable Christopher Taylor, and Deputy of St Martin Steve Luce, attended a gathering with the President of La Manche, Marc Lefèvre, the Mayor of Jullouville, Alain Brière, and the President of Piper Operation Cobra, Philippe Renaudet. This was followed by an air display and exhibition of around 350 vehicles at Jullouville beach.

Granville and Jullouville were selected as locations for this event as the former was home to the main headquarters of the French Forces and the latter was where General Dwight D. Eisenhower (who launched the D-Day operations in June 1944) based his Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in the Castle De La Mare. There, Eisenhower oversaw as many as 30,000 soldiers involved in the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of France and the airbase was dedicated to the Pipers L4-H.

The delegation was honoured to have taken part in the commemorations remembering the sacrifice of all who fought in the Second World War and those who contributed to the Liberation of Europe in 1944.

The 9^th – 15^th July saw Jersey and Guernsey celebrate all things French as Le French Festival took place in the islands. Following on from the highly successful first edition which was held in Jersey in 2017, Guernsey also enjoyed participating in the events for the first time this year.

In Jersey, events included a fantastic performance from Breton juggling duo Les Invendus, an international symposium on Wace, a Norman 12^th century poet born in Jersey, and a traditional Norman market amongst many other festivities.

Guernsey events included an array of creative workshops and exhibitions, and there was a strong focus on French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s time in the island with the exhibition of a Renoir original painting, followed by a Renoir art walk.

Both islands hosted around 600 sailors competing the 35^th edition of the Tour des Ports de la Manche, the regatta bringing a colourful display of flags and bunting to the harbours. Thanks to a longstanding relationship with Rennes Opera, Jersey and Guernsey were also lucky enough to broadcast a performance of Wagner’s opera, ‘The Flying Dutchman’, which was initially shown in 22 locations throughout Brittany on 13^th June as part of the “Opera on Screens” initiative.

Le French Festival 2019 was a great success and demonstrates the links between the islands and the French culture as a whole.  Thanks to the organising committee and all partners, and “rendez vous” for the next edition in 2021!

On 5^th July 2019, two teachers from the Guernsey Grammar School Sixth Form Centre attended the open day at the University of Caen, following the agreement which was signed by Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq in March supporting the admission of Guernsey students to the Norman university to embark on their higher education.

Newly appointed Head of Careers, Miss Charlee Hales, and coordinator of the school’s annual trip to Caen, Mr Guilhem Chene, attended a meeting with representatives of the university’s language department to catch up on the various training offers to students to improve their level of French, and to implement plans to attract Channel Islands’ students to study in Caen. They also attended a forum which introduced them to the additional services that UniCaen has to offer.

Overall, the day was very positive, and it is hoped that more Guernsey students will take steps to study in Normandy in the years to come.

On 6^th June 2019, many official and non-official events took place throughout Normandy to mark the 75^th anniversary of the D-Day landings. A delegation from Jersey and Guernsey travelled to Normandy to take part in this day of remembrance.

The delegation comprised of Jersey and Guernsey’s Chief Ministers, respectively Senator John Le Fondré and Deputy Gavin St Pier, as well as Ministers for External Relations, Senator Ian Gorst, and Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, alongside the Bailiff of Guernsey, Sir Richard Collas.

In the morning, the delegation attended the British Ecumenical Ceremony at Bayeux Cathedral in the presence of the French Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, PM Theresa May, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. A group of D-Day veterans from the Royal British Legion were also present at this ceremony. The attendees then moved to the British Military Ceremony to pay homage to those who fell 75 years ago.

Later in the day, the Channel Islands delegation attended the International Ceremony at Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer. This was the first time that a ceremony of this kind had been held in the Canadian sector. It took place in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and Edouard Philippe.

The Channel Islands delegation were honoured to have taken part in these major commemorations of events that happened very close to the Islands shores. The day offered a chance to reflect on the horrors of 6^th June 1944 and to be thankful for those who sacrificed their lives for the liberty of others.

The 4^th and 5^th June 2019 saw the second annual Normandy World Peace Forum held at the Abbaye Aux Dames in Caen, which was attended by Guernsey’s Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq and Vice President of the States of Alderney, James Dent. This was the third event of this kind at which the Channel Islands were represented as they also attended the preparatory event in 2017.

This year, the forum was on the theme of ‘peacemakers’ and included various conferences and thematic debates on this subject, with a strong emphasis on youth, as well as hosting a Village for Peace. The Channel Island representatives attended debates on combatting the silent weapon of communication technology, and about how the EU could create peace in other continents.

Several recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize gave talks at the forum, including Mohammed El-Baradei (2005 winner), Denis Mulwege (2018 winner), and Jody Williams (1997 winner). The event is particularly symbolic as it was held during the two days before the 75^th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

The islands are extremely supportive of this initiative and look forward to future events.

Jersey is once again represented at a major agricultural show in Paris (23 Feb- 3 March).

The Economic Development Minister, Senator Lyndon Farnham, led a delegation to the Salon International de l’Agriculture (SIA) on Sunday, 24 February. The agricultural show is one of the biggest French agriculture events of the year and provides an opportunity to showcase Jersey’s local produce, to promote the island as a tourist destination, and to strengthen links between Jersey and France.

This is the seventh year that Jersey has exhibited at the show, which attracts more than 600,000 visitors annually.

The department of La Manche is again hosting Jersey on their stand at the event, giving the island a platform to promote local produce and to showcase Jersey as a holiday destination. Visitors to the Jersey area of the Normandy stand are able to see different varieties of daffodils grown in Jersey, and will sample a taste of Genuine Jersey products – including black butter, cider, salted caramel, pork pies, and new locally-produced Biltong. The stand also offers festival-goers the chance to win a trip to the island.

La Manche has welcomed Jersey to share their stand since 2014, and Senator Farnham met President of La Manche, Marc Lefèvre, to renew this partnership for another three year.

Senator Farnham added: “This is a significant yearly opportunity for us to promote Jersey’s products, particularly Jersey Lobster, Jersey Oyster, Jersey Royals and Jersey Dairy: four of our most important agricultural exports. It’s fantastic to have this annual chance to demonstrate our close links with Normandy, and I am delighted to be able to renew this partnership for three more years.”

The visit of the salon was found instructive, contacts were made, and a meeting was held with the Rectorat senior officer in charge of the cooperation with the Channel Islands, to catch up on the existing partnership and discuss how to further develop educational links.

To support start-ups in Brittany and Normandy, as well as business creation projects in their challenges, Digital Jersey, expert in FinTech, Health Tech and IoT, organized, in collaboration with Rennes -St Malo French Tech and Normandy Welcome, two mornings of information and exchanges, on 25 and 26 October 2018, respectively in Rennes and Caen.

Digital Jersey has presented the benefits of the island to welcome entrepreneurs or project leaders wishing to test their innovation in a pilot area of ​​appropriate size that has all the necessary technological infrastructure (including the best fibre optic connection in the world), in several predefined sectors which are FinTech, IoT and E-health.

This same presentation will soon be made to the digital players in London, but given the relationship woven with neighbouring French regions through well-established cooperations, French neighbours are not forgotten and have even had exclusivity! Because this experiment could represent an excellent springboard for the Brittany and Norman companies wishing then to conquer the Anglosaxon market.

“French companies wishing to export their product or service to the English market now have an ideal way to access a test-bed before going international. We have already attracted the interest of several companies in France who see the advantage of using their Jersey neighbour in this way, “said Tony Moretta, CEO of Digital Jersey.